Double knee for tramways



Double Knee for, Tl amways. NO. 240,577.

(No Model.)

H. N. E. OOTTIER Patented April 26,1881.

Fay. 1.

NPETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON. D. C,

Wttiwss as UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY N. E. GOTTIER, OF OHIGAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOUBLE KNEE FOR TRAMWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming" part of Letters Patent No. 240,577, dated April 26, 1 881 Application filed February 10,188l. (No model.)

To all whom'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY N.E.Gorr1nn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented anew and Improved Double-Attached Knee for Holding in Position the Tracks of Horse0ar Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to prevent the track from spreading, and this I am able to do by the use of my improved device.

I am aware that a single knee spiked down to the cross-ties has long been used to assist in holding the stringers of horse-car roads in po sition, but that they have only answered this purpose to a limited degree is well known. When a single knee is first spiked down to a tie it will operate to hold the stringers in place for a short time but the driving of spikes into the tie causesa break in the wood surrounding the spike. The water is thus allowed to follow the course of the spike, causing rust and rapid decay in the broken wood immediately surrounding the spike-hole. The almost constant motion produced by the travel on the track above soon loosens, the spikes and permits the knees to move, thus admitting of the spreading of the track.

As horse-car roads are now constructed it is necessary as often as every six months, on account of the spreading of the track, to remove the pavement or filling for thepurpose of bringing the stringers back to their proper position and to reset the knees. The expense of the labor thus required amounts to a considerable sum in the course of ayear, while the frequent resetting of the knees and the making of new spike-holes tend to destroy the ties in a limited time, the lifetime of an ordinary tie being less than eight years.

Byusin g my improved double-connected knee the stringers, when in position, are prevented from spreading not only for a few months, as when a single knee is used, but they will remain in their proper place as long as the tie continues sound, no digging away of the filling or removal of thepavement being required until it becomes necessary to replace the worn-out and decayed ties or stringers with new ones. As it is not necessary to reset my double knee, the making of numerous spike-holes into the ties is prevented, and the length of time for which a tie can be used is thereby greatly in creased. Another advantage in favor of my improvement is that much smaller spikes can be used to secure my double knee than are required for the single knees now used, which is not only a considerable savingin expense, but the use of the smaller spike is less injurious and destructive to the tie. My improvement therefore causes a considerable saving in labor in resetting the track when it has spread, a saving of no small amount in the use of smaller spikes, and, what is still more worthy of consideration, permits the use of cross-ties for almost double the length of time that they can now be used.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanyin g drawings, in, which Figure l is a crosssection of a car-track, showing my invention in position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved double knee. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same.

My device consists of double knees connected by a continuous bed-plate, the bed-plate extending out at each end several inches beyond the upright right-angle pieces. I strengthen these upright pieces by casting on the outside a brace or. bracket, such as used on ordinary single knees. I further strengthen my double knees by so casting them as to form out of the metal used braces on both sides at the point of intersection between the knees and. the main brackets or braces. The corner-braces give increased strength. I make the outer knee both higher and stronger than the one on the inside, as the greatest pressure is in the direction of the spreading of the track. I mortise the crossties, so as to set my double-attached knee down into the wood until the top of the bed-plate is even with the surface of the tie, in which position it is secured by spikes. The stringers on which the track is laid are placed between the double knees, and secured in place by spikes or bolts driven through openings in the upright pieces of the knees. I make my-double knees of cast-iron, and they can be of such a height and width between the uprights as to correspond with the size of the stringers used. I prefer to have the upright right-angle outside piece extend atleast three-quarters of the height of the stringer, and to have the inside knee extend half the height of the stringer. They can bemadeofanyrequired dimensions orstreng-th; but I prefer to cast the same so that the bedplate is about an inch thick and three inches Wide, the upright pieces correspondin gin width with the bed-plate, and being of the thickness of about three-fourths of an inch, while the upright brackets or braces can be made of any required thickness, height, and strength. When a track is held in position by my double-connected knees the saving in labor and expense as stated will be insured.

In the drawings, A represents the continuous bed-plate connecting the knees. B is the upright right-angle outside knee-plate. G, the inside upright right-angle knee-plate. D and E are the strengthening braces or brackets,

tinuous bed-plate A, the upright right-angle pieces B and O, the strengthening-braces D and E, and the corner-braces ff, substantially as shown and described.

HENRY N. (JOTTIER.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK O. GooDWI-N, ABEL BOND. 

